Battle For Britain And Etc Flashcards
(26 cards)
- Why was the 1945 General Election such a turning point in British politics?
Because it marked the public’s demand for a new post-war Britain focused on equality, welfare, and reconstruction, rejecting pre-war Conservative policies.
- What was the public mood in Britain by 1945?
Hopeful but determined—people wanted real social reform and to avoid a return to the hardship of the 1930s. The message was: “Never again.”
- Why did voters associate the Conservatives with failure?
Because they remembered the Great Depression, the Means Test, and mass unemployment under Conservative rule in the 1930s.
- What impact did WWII have on public expectations?
The war proved the government could effectively plan and intervene. People believed that similar state-led effort could win peace and rebuild Britain.
- What did the Labour Party promise in their 1945 manifesto?
To implement the Beveridge Report, create the NHS, nationalise key industries, provide full employment, housing, and a welfare safety net.
- Who was William Beveridge and what were the Five Giants?
Beveridge was a social reformer who proposed a welfare state to defeat the “Five Giants”: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness.
- Why did Churchill’s campaign backfire?
He warned that Labour would need a Gestapo to enforce socialism—seen as scaremongering and out of touch with the public mood.
- Why was Labour more trusted to deliver change than the Conservatives?
Labour ministers had run key wartime ministries (e.g. health, labour) and proved they could govern effectively in a crisis.
- What did the Beveridge Report recommend?
A comprehensive welfare state funded by national insurance to protect citizens “from cradle to grave.”
- What economic condition did Labour inherit in 1945?
A war-torn economy, burdened with debt, low reserves, and a need for rapid reconstruction and social reform.
- What was the long-term impact of Labour’s 1945 victory?
The creation of the NHS, the welfare state, and a lasting political consensus around state responsibility for social welfare.
- What is collectivism in economics?
The belief that the state should control the economy to reduce inequality, guarantee welfare, and plan for social good.
- Who were the main thinkers behind collectivism post-1945?
William Beveridge, John Maynard Keynes, and Harold Laski.
- What is economic liberalism?
The belief in free markets, private property, and limited government. Individual freedom is best protected through economic freedom.
- Who was the leading advocate of economic liberalism in the 1940s?
Friedrich von Hayek, author of The Road to Serfdom (1943).
- What did Keynes argue about unemployment and state spending?
That the state should create jobs through public works, increasing national income and tax returns via the multiplier effect.
- What warning did Hayek give in The Road to Serfdom?
That state planning could lead to dictatorship and the erosion of personal freedoms—just like in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.
- How did Hayek define true freedom?
As economic freedom—the ability to make choices in a free market. He believed state control made people mere numbers.
- What is the “Multiplier Effect” described by Keynes?
When state spending creates jobs, those jobs generate income, which in turn creates more spending and more jobs.
- What was the Beveridge Report’s core argument about poverty?
- How did the experience of the war influence the ideological debate?
- How did war planning influence attitudes to government control?
The war showed that a coordinated state could mobilise resources efficiently—this built trust in collectivist solutions after 1945.
- What role did housing play in Labour’s 1945 campaign?
It was central—millions had endured slums or bombing. Labour promised a massive house-building programme to address “Squalor.”
- What was Labour’s 1945 slogan and why was it powerful?
“Let Us Face the Future”—it captured the optimism of post-war Britain and the desire to build something new.
- What was the “Means Test” and why was it hated?
A humiliating system to assess if people deserved benefits. It invaded privacy and symbolised the cruelty of pre-war welfare.
